nationalglobal
Human Rights Lawyers Report Mistreatment of US Deportees at Equatorial Guinea Facility
Just the facts
Defense attorneys representing deported individuals reported that Ahmed Soliman of Egypt and Samson Birhane of Eritrea were beaten by police at the Hotel Bamy in Malabo after documenting detention conditions on mobile phones. Approximately 30 individuals deported from the United States remain held at the hotel under an agreement where Equatorial Guinea received $7.5 million in U.S. funding to host foreign deportees. Soliman and Birhane had previously received U.S. judicial relief against direct deportation to their home countries due to risk of torture, but were removed to Equatorial Guinea under third-country expulsion policies. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated that individuals are no longer in agency custody once deported to a third country, while attorneys have submitted formal inquiries regarding detainee safety to the U.S. Embassy.
Why this is news
Human rights attorneys and witnesses reported that two men expelled by the United States to Equatorial Guinea were bound, beaten, and transferred to a prison facility in Malabo.
Sources
This summary is compiled strictly from the original reporting below.